(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey will offer screenings of five films in their Free Summer Movies Series for 2024. The series begins on July 9th with a screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The series follows with Elemental, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, and closes out on August 6th with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
State Theatre New Jersey's free Summer Movies Series features morning and evening weekday screenings. Experience your favorite films on their gigantic 46’ screen, with a state-of-the-art sound system, in the historic renovated theater.
July 9 (screenings at 10:30am and 7:00pm) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend, April O’Neil (voiced by Ayo Edebiri, The Bear), helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate.
"[TMNT is] the first entry in the franchise to successfully merge both strands of Turtledom, a creatively engaging animated movie aimed at kids that bubbles with the punkier energy of yore," says The Atlantic.
Cast also includes the voices of Jackie Chan (Rush Hour) as Splinter, Ice Cube (Friday) as Superfly, John Cena (The Suicide Squad) as Rocksteady, Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) as Bebop, Rose Byrne (Neighbors) as Leatherhead, Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. (The Chi) as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu (The Walking Dead: World Beyond) as Leonardo, and Brady Noon (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers) as Raphael, and Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) as Cynthia Utrom.
July 16 (screenings at 10:30am and 7:00pm) - Elemental an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire, water, land, and air residents live together. The story introduces Ember (Leah Lewis, The Half of It), a tough, quick-witted, and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. Cast also includes the voices of Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World) as Wade and Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek) as Brooke.
For the 7:00pm screening, come early for FREE movie-themed arts and crafts for the kids! The arts and crafts will take place in their upstairs accessible Studio space.
July 23 (screenings at 10:30am and 7:00pm) - The Super Mario Bros. Movie This film takes what millions of gamers worldwide have loved for 35 years, and levels it up to a new and breathtaking cinematic experience! The movie tells the story of two Brooklyn plumbers who are brothers and best friends: Mario, the brave one with the "let's-a go" attitude, and the perpetually anxious Luigi, who would prefer to go nowhere. We open with the Super Mario Brothers reckoning with their struggling plumbing business, and wind up in a whirlwind adventure through Mushroom Kingdom. Through their journey, we meet a cast of familiar, lovable characters, ultimately uniting together to defeat the power-hungry villain, Bowser.
Featuring the voices of Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mario, Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit) as Princess Peach, Jack Black (School of Rock) as Bowser, Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike, Fred Armisen (Portlandia) as Cranky King, and Seth Rogan (The Long Shot) as Donkey Kong.
For the 7:00 screening, come early for FREE movie-themed arts and crafts for the kids! The arts and crafts will take place in their upstairs accessible Studio space.
July 30 (screenings at 10:30am and 7:00pm) - Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken Sometimes the hero you are meant to be lies just beneath the surface. DreamWorks Animation® dives into the turbulent waters of high school with a hilarious, heartfelt action comedy about a shy teenager who discovers that she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny—in the depths of the oceans—is bigger than she ever dreamed.
Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before franchise) is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush (Jaboukie Young-White, Ralph Breaks the Internet), who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her over-protective supermom (Oscar® nominee Toni Collette, Knives Out), has forbade Ruby from ever getting in the water.
But when she breaks her mom’s number one rule, Ruby will discover that she is a direct descendant of the warrior Kraken queens, and is destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother (Academy Award®-winner Jane Fonda), the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas.
The Kraken are sworn to protect the oceans of the world against the vain, power-hungry mermaids who have been battling with the Kraken for eons. There’s one major and immediate problem with that: The school’s beautiful, popular new girl, Chelsea (Emmy®-winner Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek), just happens to be a mermaid. Ruby will ultimately need to embrace who she is and go big to protect those she loves most.
For the 7:00 screening, come early for FREE movie-themed arts and crafts for the kids! The arts and crafts will take place in their upstairs accessible Studio space.
August 6 (screenings at 10:30am and 7:00pm) - Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Everyone’s favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline returns. For the first time in more than a decade, DreamWorks Animation® presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe, as daring outlaw Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest yet.
Academy Award® nominee Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious PiB, as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Softpaws (Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek Pinault).
In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided—against their better judgment—by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perrito (Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows). Together, our trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldi (Oscar® nominee Florence Pugh, Black Widow) and the Three Bears Crime Family, Jack Horner (Emmy® winner John Mulaney, Big Mouth) and terrifying bounty hunter, the big, bad Wolf (Wagner Moura, Narcos).
For the 7:00 screening, come early for FREE movie-themed arts and crafts for the kids! The arts and crafts will take place in their upstairs accessible Studio space.
State Theatre New Jersey is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
After major renovations, State Theatre New Jersey celebrated its 100th Anniversary in December 2021 in a fully renovated theater including newly renovated lobbies, all new restrooms, upgraded HVAC systems, a new elevator for access to all levels, and brand-new theater seats. Originally built as a silent film and vaudeville palace, State Theatre’s historic significance was honored by PBS by featuring it in its documentary series, Treasures of New Jersey, in the fall of 2018. “Treasures of New Jersey: State Theatre New Jersey” can be streamed online.
Today, State Theatre is the largest performing arts center in Central New Jersey and has welcomed more than six million people through its doors since reopening as a nonprofit performing arts center in 1988. State Theatre New Jersey is a cornerstone of the cultural vitality of Middlesex County and averages a total economic impact on New Brunswick and the surrounding area of more than $18 million a year. The mainstage programs have featured high-caliber artists such as Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Kevin Hart, Ringo Starr, Melissa Etheridge, John Leguizamo, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Program offerings include Broadway, orchestra, family, dance, comedy, rock/pop, jazz, Performances for Schools, and Sensory-Friendly Performances.
State Theatre New Jersey’s programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
